GaryKurt101 Reviews

StageFright (1987)

Spaghetti Slasher Fun

[8/10 · 24 April 2022]

An escaped mental patient who used to be an actor breaks into a closed rehearsal for a new dance show and carves up all the performers in a variety of clever ways.

While most Italian horror films are more known for being gory murder mystery gialli, Stagefright feels more like a take on the American slasher film with no mystery whatsoever to the killer's identity and just a series of increasingly elaborate and gory set pieces until only one person is left. To it's credit, it doesn't forget the suspense and some moments are genuinely scary and haunting.

The House by the Cemetery (1981)

Lots of Gore, Little Story

[6/10 · 24 April 2022]

A family moves into a house that's haunted by the ghost of a deranged doctor who used to perform strange experiments on people. Or maybe he's still alive and excited about having a fresh group of victims to carve up.

In usual Fulci fashion, there are buckets of blood and a ton of excellent makeup effects shoved into a script that barely seems like it was given three seconds of thought. It has a nice, creepy music score and some good mood which might keep certain audience members captivated in between dismemberments.

Messiah of Evil (1974)

Unforgettable Atmosphere

[8/10 · 24 April 2022]

It's hard to tell exactly what's going on from scene to scene in Messiah of Evil, but you can tell there's nothing else quite like it. At it's worst, it's a little sleepy and meandering, but at it's best, there are few films that can compare to its creep factor.

It's got a young woman who travels to a seaside town to visit her artist father and discovers that the entire town has been overrun by blood-thirsty zombie-like creatures.

The cinematography is very striking and it has a few moments that will really get under your skin.

The Brood (1979)

Vicious Divorce Horror Story

[10/10 · 24 April 2022]

If you thought Kramer Vs. Kramer was something else, just add in a few buckets of blood and you've got The Brood. It's one of David Cronenberg's most violent and frightening films.

Cronenberg's story deals with a recently divorced father trying to figure out what's going on with his traumatized daughter after his ex-wife goes off to attend a retreat to help her cope with her anger. It turns out that his ex-wife's anger manifests into creepy looking children in rain coats who hammer and beat anyone she doesn't like into a bloody pulp.

The special effects are great and all of the performances keep the human drama relatable in the middle of all the fantastical elements.

Re-Animator (1985)

Funny with Great Effects

[9/10 · 24 April 2022]

Re-Animator is one of the most playful and joyful horror comedies in film history with a killer ensemble cast and a funny script.

A med student believes he has the cure for death in a green potion and, after experimenting with it on animals, he thinks it's ready for humans. He ends up creating several terrifying zombies who he and his newfound school friend must stop.

Jeffrey Combs has just the right dry wit for Herbert and Bruce Abbot and Barbara Crampton help keep things relatable as the two young lovers caught in this terror storm.

Waxwork (1988)

Great Fun With Excellent Effects

[8/10 · 12 October 2021]

Waxwork just barely squeezed itself into the tail end of the 80's and it's hard to imagine a better film to define an era of tongue in cheek, brash, gory fun than this one.

Focusing on a handful of college students attending a secretive midnight waxwork opening, Waxwork has the good sense to keep things light, giving all the characters interesting quirks for its talented young cast to play. You'll recognize many familiar faces from Gremlins' Zach Galligan to Twin Peaks' Dana Ashbrook.

These college kids end up being transported into the wax exhibits they're looking at which causes them to have to run from werewolves, vampires, zombies, and mummies. The effects are executed incredibly well with several memorable gory moments.

It's a movie a lot of people don't talk about, but it's worth your time.

Blood and Black Lace (1964)

Fashionable Murder

[9/10 · 3 July 2021]

Mario Bava made a big splash with Blood and Black Lace - one of the first films to make brutal murder look not just stylish, but downright fashionable.

Bathing his story in bright, garish colors, Mario Bava gives a run of the mill murder mystery a much needed energy boost so that, when the screenplay isn't thrilling, the visuals are at least always working overtime to make up for whatever the script is lacking.

Blood and Black Lace is at its best when it's either at the fashion house with its catty almost-all female cast at each other's throats or showcasing one of them dying in one creative and over the top way or another. Like many films of this sort, the police procedural side plots don't thrill as much as they should and end up feel more like padding than something that adds anything substantial to the plot or characters.

Even with this frustrating element, the script is better than many of the films it ended up influencing and there's an unusual and surprising ending.

The New York Ripper (1982)

Riddled With Sleaze

[5/10 · 3 July 2021]

Fulci gives New York a bad name in The New York Ripper. It's a strange and sleazy film with very little story, but enough unpleasantness for 10 other movies.

Fulci has never been known for his stellar and well crafted screenplays, but this one takes the cake. It's essentially a handful of murder set pieces (some of which are well-shot and harrowing) with a whole lot of dull police procedural stuff sandwiched in between with nothing of note holding them together.

The dreamy surrealism of films like The Psychic and The Beyond and the intriguing murder mystery of Don't Torture A Duckling are not to be found in The New York Ripper. The only thing that will keep the audience hanging on is the question of "what will this insane person show us next?" In that sense, there's a compelling carnival freak show quality to The New York Ripper, but it's not enough to give it more than once watch. If that's all you're interested in, this might be the movie for you.

The Beyond (1981)

Moody Italian Horror

[8/10 · 3 July 2021]

Any casual fan of Italian horror should know by now that tuning into a film like this for the plot would be a huge mistake. You sign on for an Italian horror film is you're more in the mood for something heavy on style, interesting set pieces, and atmosphere. On that front, The Beyond delivers.

Story-wise, you've got a young woman who inherits an old hotel with a creepy past and, while trying to fix it up to turn it into a bed and breakfast, unleashes the apocalypse through one of the seven doors to hell that's located in the basement of the house.

After that, spooky things simply happen for little rhyme or reason. Spiders bite off pieces of human's face, eyes are pushed out of skulls, zombies are everywhere, and animals viciously attack their owners.

If you can float along with the frequency The Beyond is putting out, it can be a very enjoyable time.

The Psychic (1977)

One of Fulci's Best

[8/10 · 28 September 2020]

Lucio Fulci can be hit and miss for some people. Many of his films could be accused of style over substance with little care for characters or tight plotting. With The Psychic, Fulci presents one of his most coherent screenplays which makes it a much easier film to follow than some of his others.

This film opens with a horrifying suicide sequence witnessed by the woman's young child. The child grows up and has a premonition after dropping her husband off at the airport involving someone being murdered and walled up in a house. Who could this mystery victim be and can she stop it before it happens?

The Psychic is a slow film, but a great one for more patient viewers who are interested in unraveling the mystery with our heroine. For Fulci fans expecting gore, you're out of luck, because there's hardly much to write home about save that one suicide in the prologue. It's not as fantastical and bloody as most of Fulci's other movies so it's best to know that before going in.

It Chapter Two (2019)

Welcome Back To Derry

[6/10 · 16 September 2019]

It's strange to say that the dramatic parts of a horror film landed better than the horror parts, but that's It: Chapter Two's biggest issue - the horror just isn't scary. They sure think the horror scenes are scary. They come fast and furious with a ton of aggressive sound effects and CGI, desperately trying to prove to us that they're scary, but they're not.

This film opens with a hate crime against a gay couple that strikes the wrong note right off the bat. This scene actually is brutal and scary, because it's one of the few scenes that isn't loaded to the brim with computer effects and it feels like something that would really happen in a messed up town like Derry. Even when Pennywise the clown shows up towards the end of that scene, most of his effects at least appear practical.

Starting off like this gave me false hope that, maybe, this film would be stronger and scarier than the first. The next 30 minutes are equally strong with the audience catching up with the Loser's Club in present day. The transitions between each character's new life are beautifully handled and incredibly cinematic.

Once everyone gathers back in Derry, it becomes a slightly dull series of predictable funhouse horror scenes as each character must return to a place of trauma before meeting back up to fight Pennywise. Blessedly, the final showdown, while drenched with the CGI I've spent so much time complaining about, is stronger than the finales of either the novel or the original TV miniseries.

It Chapter Two is the very definition of a mixed bag. There's a lot to love, a lot to shrug at, and a lot to hate, but it manages to be entertaining enough and frequently moving enough to look past a lot of the film's flaws.

Cheerleader Camp (1988)

CAMP-tastic!

[9/10 · 12 July 2019]

If you've ever wondered what a John Waters Porky's/slasher film mashup would look like, then look no further than Cheerleader Camp. Every performance is ridiculously campy and every character is a bit of a sleaze.

In some ways, it also feels like a slightly more adult Fear Street novel come to life with an extra helping of violence, gore, and boob shots. The acting and directing ranges from pedestrian to downright awful, but the script seems to have a satirical edge to it that's very much welcome and helps separate this film from the other slasher films out there.

Vickie Benson stands out as the impossibly cheerful Miss Tipton who spends the entire film with a deranged pageant girl smile on her face. She delivers a monologue about teen suicide with a gleam in her eye and a twirl of her hair that must be seen to be believed.

Cheerleader Camp also features one of the most downbeat endings this side of Happy Birthday To Me and I certainly wasn't expecting that.

Tourist Trap (1979)

One Strange Bird of a Film

[8/10 · 30 October 2018]

I'm a bit late to the Tourist Trap party and I don't know what to wear. For years, I'd heard stories from my friends about how they'd seen this film when they were children on TV or at the video store (somehow, this nightmarish flick was rated PG!) and how much it had traumatized them. I'm in my 40's now, but I found myself equally as traumatized during portions of this movie.

The plot is simple enough. Think Texas Chainsaw Massacre mixed with House of Wax with a dollop of Carrie thrown in and you'll get the idea. This is a movie that builds and builds until you realize you're standing in the middle of someone else's nightmare. The atmosphere is filled with doom and gloom and escape seems impossible.

The score by Pino Donaggio is equally as odd as the narrative itself. His opening theme is, perhaps, a bit too playful and doesn't do much to conjure an oppressive mood, but once the film starts kicking it into high gear, the imagery and performances do that by themselves as Donaggio's score becomes more and more lyrical and rather beautiful. It's like trying to imagine Ennio Morriconne scoring Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It doesn't always fit, but it sure is beautiful and makes the film even more bizarre than it already was.

Acting wise, no one is any worse than your typical slasher film, but Jocelyn Jones does stick out as being a bit more interesting than the others. There's a slightly haunted quality about her that I really loved and you get the sense that, in some ways, she might be as lost and stuck in the past as the Chuck Connors character. Just look at the way she's dressed as compared to her friends. She looks like she's ready for Sunday school.

The ending itself is incredibly haunting and I don't think I'll be forgetting about that one for quite awhile.

Tourist Trap more than deserves your time.

Halloween (I) (2018)

The Return of Laurie Strode

[5/10 · 28 October 2018]

I've been a Halloween fan for as long as I can remember. I saw it late one night at a sleepover at age 8 and fell in love with the film. To me, the sequels were never quite the same (even though some were better than others). I was pleasantly surprised when I heard David Gordon Green had signed on to make a sequel that would get rid of all that useless clap trap, bring back Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, and return to the suspense and thrills of the original film.

Well, he did two of those things.

This new Halloween starts off with a bizarre prologue involving two British investigative journalists interviewing Michael Myers at a mental hospital. They've, somehow, managed to track down his original mask and they think it's a good idea to taunt him with it in front of his face. Before we know it, we're right into the familiar jack 0' lantern opening credits (which appear to be CGI?) as a crushed pumpkin inflates itself back to life and smiles that familiar grin we're so used to. It's an interesting idea, but the credits make little impact as they feel like someone's accidentally sat on the remote and pressed the fast forward button.

In fact, the rest of the film feels like it's been sped up and not given a chance to really build the characters and stretch out the dramatic moments. Laurie Strode now lives in seclusion in a ratty old shack and she's none to please when these journalists come knocking on her door. Y'see, Laurie already knows that Michael is being transfered to another facility, because she's been hoping he's escape for 40 years so that she can finally kill him.

Curtis is wonderful here with a wild lion's mane of grey hair and a determined spirit. She does what she can with the material, but it never quite rises to her level. There are moments where the film seems like it's about to let her really rip, but then, it abruptly cuts away to something else, robbing Curtis' performance of a lot of power. There's a wonderful scene where Curtis is alone in her car, waiting for Michael to be transfered that could use a good minute to breathe. Similar is a scene almost directly after where she crashes a dinner for her granddaughter and ends up breaking down. There's something not fully baked about these scenes and it's a shame, because Curtis seems more willing than ever to take those big, dramatic leaps.

The main issue in this film is lack of suspense. Many potentially suspenseful moments are undercut by poor moments of humor that fall flat more often than not. It also doesn't help that our new batch of victims (including Laurie's daughter and granddaughter) are about as developed and interesting as a packet of Mentos. Some still manage to give game performances, but without any meat on their character's bones, it's all in vain. We simply just don't care about them or what happens to them and that undercuts a lot of the suspense.

There's also a completely useless character of a doctor who's supposed to be a Loomis stand in and he's involved in one of the dumbest moments I've seen in years. Truth be told, he could have been written out completely and the film would be all the stronger for it.

On the plus side, Curtis turns in a game performance, John Capenter's music score (his first time to score a sequel since '82's Halloween III) is brilliant, the cinematography is great, and Michael hasn't been this scary since the early 80's. It's just a shame that so much doesn't quite work. It's merely adequate when it should soar.

Blessed Are the Children (I) (2016)

Suspenseful Southern Slasher

[8/10 · 28 October 2018]

My friends said I should check this one out and I have to be honest - I didn't know what to expect. The concept sounded potentially interesting, but the trailers didn't do too much for me. I'm grateful that I did, because Blessed Are the Children might be one of the more interesting low/no-budget slashers I've seen in at least a decade.

Granted, this won't be everyone's cup of tea, but there's a lot more to unpack here than most straight to video slasher flicks and I admire the filmmakers for trying something new and going to places most films wouldn't.

Let's start with the characters - they're terrific. It's been a long time since I've seen three leads this well developed and defined. There's Traci - the mopey one whose father just died right before her wedding to an abusive person named Ben who, apparently, threw her pets at a wall while drunk. Eager to get back into the dating scene, she's become a friend with benefits for John, a self-absorbed med student, who might just as bad as Ben. She then finds out that she's pregnant (by who, it's never said) and she decides to get an abortion. In her corner are friends Mandy - a sassy lesbian hairdresser and Erin - a shy, awkward virgin.

After Traci's abortion, she starts noticing creepy baby-masked people stalking her and her friends and the body count starts adding up. A lot of these murder scenes are staged with a god degree of panache and even a fair amount of suspense (something a lot of low budget filmmakers forget about). Some gore effects are better than others, but there should be enough to please the gore hounds among us. Thankfully, the kill order is super surprising and hard to expect. I did gasp a few times when some of my favorite characters were taken out abruptly. It certainly never feels safe and I love that.

As for the flaws...well, there are a few. I think it could have shaved a few minutes off here and there. There's a character from Traci's past who shows up and we're treated to an overlong scene in a restroom where we start to discover that this woman is lying about what a happy life she has as a young mother. The writing isn't bad and it could be argued that this scene helps inform Traci's choice to get the abortion, but it feels like it belongs in a different movie, especially thanks to an incredibly over the top performance by the girl playing Traci's friend. There's also a really bad instance of dubbing/ADR that feels like a weird Italian horror movie as well as several weird sound issues throughout. That stuff doesn't bother me as much as some people, because I could always understand everyone fine even if it wasn't always the cleanest or best sound.

Flaws aside, Blessed Are the Children has its heart in the right place and it's super entertaining and memorable addition to the slasher subgenre.

Hellraiser (1987)

Sex Makes Women Crazy

[9/10 · 7 October 2018]

That'd be a good alternate title for this film. Although the franchise's most enduring and popular character, Pinhead, probably has 5 minutes of screen time in this original film (he even made the poster!), Hellraiser's major star is Julia Cotten (a brilliant icy-cold Claire Higgins) who sets the story in motion by basically being a bored, unsatisfied housewife. Yes, folks, this movie isn't what you'd think it is. In fact, it has more in common with a kitchen sink drama than it does most horror films.

For some, this would be a huge turn off, but for me, I adore it. I've always felt the best horror films are ABOUT something - not just mindless blood and guts. Clive Barker grounds his story (adapted from his own novella) in realism so that the most fantastical elements don't make us roll our eyes.

The thing is - Julia and her boring husband, Larry (the great Andrew Robinson, who gets to go from lifeless dweeb to predatory psycho throughout the course of 90 minutes), have just moved into a house previous owned by Larry's hedonistic brother, Frank. Frank's gone missing, but after Larry's cuts his hand on moving day, the drops of blood, somehow, end up reanimating his corpse (y'see, we already know Frank met a nasty end from the prologue) and he needs Julia to kill men for him so that he can drain them of their blood and become whole again.

So, why is Julia willing to do this? Well, she and Frank had a passionate, lusty affair before she married Larry and she's always pined for him (how good WAS that sex?). Julia seems pretty eager to give Frank whatever he wants. That is , if Larry's nosy daughter, Kirsty (a spunky Ashley Laurence) doesn't get in the way.

Yes, there are always some strange hellish creatures that are summoned by a demonic puzzle box, some great special effects, and inventive set pieces one won't soon forget, but writer/director Barker keeps his story beautifully grounded in the real world and doesn't forget to make his characters human. Said characters are indeed a compelling, memorable bunch with Higgins' Julia taking center stage and becoming quite a memorable anti-heroine.

This film's reputation as a horror classic is well deserved and, if you haven't seen it, check it out immediately. The film spawned a franchise with a spotty track record, but at least a few of the sequels do have some imagination and interesting ideas.

Children of the Corn (1984)

Lukewarm Stephen King Adaptation

[6/10 · 7 October 2018]

It's tricky adapting Stephen King. It's even trickier adapting a Stephen King short story. These are usually so well crafted and such perfect little slices of terror that stretching them out to feature length can only dilute a lot of their horror.

Such is the case with Children of the Corn - a film that, somehow, has spawned 8,000 sequels (most of which are direct to video) and has become a household name in the years following its release. Let me get one thing straight - Children of the Corn isn't a horrible movie. In some respects, it's more fun than it has any right to be, but it's not in the top tier of King adaptations.

What Children of the Corn does get right can be seen in its vicious prologue where all the adults of a small town are brutally murdered by their own children. It's a brilliant, disturbing sequence that could have been a great short film by itself. Even better, it's never said why the children are doing this.

With that mystery and sense of dread established, we meet our two leads (Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton) who end up driving through this town and becoming the latest victims of this cult of murderous children.

There are some effective moments here and there, including a rather frightening dream sequence and a few well timed jolts, but with so much runtime to pad to stretch out this tiny story to feature length, the creators have to fill it with silly exposition about a monster in the corn fields. When said monster finally does appear, it's a bit goofy.

One can see why Children of the Corn developed such a strong cult following. There are images in here that are as potent as some of the best horror films, but it fumbles a bit after its initial set up. You could still do far worse, though (i.e. most of the awful sequels).

A Star Is Born (2018)

Worthwhile Remake

[9/10 · 7 October 2018]

My main issue with remakes is that they rarely seem to bring anything new to the plate and have no reason for existing. With the case of A Star is Born, enough time has passed since the last incarnation (over 40 years), so it's not like the filmmakers only made this to cash in on a popular title. In fact, I'd wager most people under 30 might not even know what A Star is Born is.

This new film updates the story and gives its stars, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, multiple chances to shine. Thankfully, they're more than up to the task and they're shine like never before. Yes, everything you've heard is true - they both turn in phenomenal, career-best performances.

Sam Elliot offers a lot of solid support as Cooper's tired older brother/manager/drunken-mess-picker-upper and is featured in one of the most moving scenes of the film.

The story has been done before obviously, but the updates, the soundtrack, and the wonderful performances make a strong case for this film's existence.

Hell Fest (2018)

Decent Modern Slasher

[7/10 · 1 October 2018]

There's really nothing to write home about with Hell Fest. It gets the job done, but just barely. It's just a little bit smarter/scarier/more interesting than most of these films, but just enough to get an E for effort.

If Hell Fest has anything going for it, it's the cast. There are fairly likable people instead of the usual shrill stereotypes one usually sees in these movies. I did root for them and that's not something I can say for a lot of modern horror films.

Some of the effects are pretty decent including one incredibly nasty piece of Fulci-esque eye trauma, but something does feel a bit uninspired about most of the murder set pieces and, since the story itself is nothing special, it might have helped to get a bit more creative with these scenes.

While there are isolated moments of tension throughout, Hell Fest is never truly scary or shudder inducing. The killer's get up doesn't help things much. It's just not very haunted and scary. This might dull things a bit.

If Hell Fest stands out for anything, it's the unorthodox ending that might have a lot of people scratching their heads. It's certainly an interesting choice and one that might get people thinking.

A Simple Favor (2018)

Hysterically Funny Thriller

[8/10 · 1 October 2018]

I'll be honest - I hadn't read the book before I saw this movie, but my friends had and they'd warned me that it's a bit different from the film. Going in blind, I found myself very impressed with what I saw.

A Simple Favor is the blackest of black comedies and it had me rolling in my seat the entire time. It's part film noir, part lurid 90's thriller (think Single White Female or The Hand That Rocks the Cradle), part Lifetime movie, and more than a part of all the recent "Girl" novels (Gone Girl, The Girl On the Train, etc.).

Helping the witty script immeasurably are its two leads - Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. Kendrick has never been more perfectly cast than here as an awkward, try-hard prude who desperately needs to come out of her shell. Blake Lively channels her inner Sharon Stone from Basic Instinct as the icy, femme fatale who'll seems to be a pathological liar who'll stop at nothing to get what she wants.

To say anything else of the story would be rude! Run and see it.

Eating Raoul (1982)

One of the Funniest Dark Comedies Ever Made

[9/10 · 24 September 2018]

Eating Raoul is so eager to please and never overstays its welcome. Shot for what seems to be $3, it's amazing that the film turns out as nice and polished as it is. Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov play the aptly named Blands. They dream to, one day, start their own eatery, but it seems as if it's just not in the cards for them. After a mix up, they end up accidentally killing a man and, thinking he's a nobody, they take his wallet. At that moment, a brilliant business plan is born and the Blands pose as sexual deviants to lure people to their homes, kill them (with a frying pan) and steal their money. Things get complicated when a young man named Raoul discovers their secret and wants in on their scheme.

The basic concept of Eating Raoul is so damn goofy that it's amazing it works as well as it does, but Bartel and Woronov smartly play everything super straight and it works.

If you consider yourself a dark comedy fan and haven't seen this movie, you need to change that right now.

Chopping Mall (1986)

Goofy, Dumb Fun

[9/10 · 24 September 2018]

Chopping Mall is a movie that wears its heart and intentions on its sleeve. It's not trying to move you with gripping character drama or display brilliant filmmaking technique. It's a down and dirty low budget exercise in cheesy exploitation and all the better for it.

The gist is - a shopping mall has just debuted a new line of robotic security guards and a lightning storm screws up their circuits and turns them into bloodthirsty killing machines. This spells bad news for the group of young adults who have decided to stay in the mall overnight.

For a film of this type, the acting is better than average with scream queens Kelli Maroney and Barbara Crampton coming across the best and giving their cardboard characters a little life. The effects are impressive and the production value feels higher than it probably was. Also, it's rarely dull and it's over before you even know it.

Horror fans wanting something a bit more lighthearted should enjoy this one.

Hell House LLC (2015)

Better Than Average Found Footage Movie

[9/10 · 24 September 2018]

I'll be honest - I don't like found footage movies. I think they're lazy, unscary, and most of all - they don't usually make sense. If you're encountering a murderer, monster, or ghost, put the camera down and run, you idiot. However, Hell House manages to make what is, perhaps, the best and scariest example of this subgenre to date.

Hell House starts off a lot like an Unsolved Mysteries episode as people are trying to figure out what happened to this rag tag group of haunted house creators and their attraction that went horribly wrong. To be honest, some of the first act gave me pause. The acting in the "documentary" scenes felt a bit arch and like something out of a parody, but once we get to the real footage and meat of the film, I was genuinely surprised by the realism and quality of the acting.

What Hell House really does well is the scares. I can't remember the last time I was so frightened by a film. They're mostly cut from a more subtle cloth. There aren't a whole lot of loud bangs and stingers to jolt your out of your seats - the images themselves do that. There's one particular scene involving a mistaken identity (perhaps a riff on The Haunting's "if I'm not holding your hand, then whose hand am I holding?" scene) that's downright bone chilling.

Hell House might look like your average, dull found footage movie on the surface, but it's far from it and well worth your time.

Shutter Island (2010)

Dull Thriller Offers Nothing New

[3/10 · 16 September 2018]

With all the talent involved in this, you'd think it'd be a lot more interesting than it is. From the moment the film begins with it's loud, bombastic score, you just have to laugh at how serious everyone's taking this well worn series of cliches.

If it happened to be just a bit more ridiculous, it'd be great as midnight movie camp, but instead, it wallows in mediocrity, trying not to shock or upset anyone too much. It never strays far from respectability.

Leonardo DiCaprio furrows his brow a lot and looks constipated for the majority of the film and decides to call that a performance, but it's not really his fault. He's not the one who wrote the story.

There's no one single tense or scary set piece to be found and, by the time the big twist is revealed, anyone with half a brain will feel insulted.

Shutter Island is handsomely made, middle brow fluff without anything interesting to recommend. Skip it!

Deadly Blessing (1981)

Not Craven's Best, But Far From A Disaster

[8/10 · 16 September 2018]

Everyone seems to bring this movie up in hushed tones when discussing the impressive filmography of horror master Wes Craven. Why? I'm not so sure, because Deadly Blessing has just about everything you'd want from a solid horror film.

After her husband is mysteriously murdered in the middle of the night, a young woman recruits her two besties to help her ease into the transition. Unfortunately, the killer (or killers) want her off the land ASAP and by any means necessary.

Deadly Blessing doesn't benefit from not having been scripted by Craven himself. The auteur leaves that chore to other writers this time and, because of that, it doesn't have that typical Craven flare. One can see why he was drawn to it as religious zealots have figured into many of his films.

The cast is a likable bunch, including Sharon Stone in an early role (even if her character might as well be catatonic in the last half hour of the film) and this helps a lot. You do want these women to get out of this ordeal safely.

Craven cooks up a handful of genuinely memorable horror set pieces including a terrifying encounter with a snake in a bathtub and a nail biting sequence with Sharon Stone trapped in a barn with the killer.

An obvious studio-mandated ending brings it down a few notches, but it's all in all, a very enjoyable little movie and worth seeing.